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Westwood: major mystery

I don't see any reason why I shouldn't win some of those majors. It's always been something that's mystified as to why I have not really contended more of those tournaments because all the people that play in the majors, I've beaten somewhere along the way.

Lee Westwood
Quotes of the week

Lee Westwood is back in the groove and looking to clear up his own personal major mystery in 2008.

In the third in his series of special interviews with Golf Night, the Ryder Cup star admitted that he is still puzzled himself as to why he has never really come close to winning any of the big four.

But after tinkering with his game a few years ago, the 34-year-old cuts a far more settled figure these days and is the early-season leader in the Order of Merit.

He is looking good for Ryder Cup qualification already, but as Westwood told Mark Roe over a cup of tea and some toast, he is now ready to launch a long overdue bid for one of the US Masters, USPGA, US Open or The Open.

"Obviously I want to get into the Ryder Cup team and I've got off to a great start with a lot of points on the board in the world rankings and European system and obviously the majors are always a focus," he told Golf Night.

"I'm in all four majors this year and if I can keep working on the things I'm working on, like my fitness in the gym and my short game - which is going to play a vital part at places like the Masters if I'm going to get in there - then I can contend for a couple of those.

"I don't see any reason why I shouldn't win some of those majors. It's always been something that's mystified as to why I have not really contended more of those tournaments because all the people that play in the majors, I've beaten somewhere along the way.

"It's just a matter of getting in there more often."

Technique

Consistency though was never a problem for the young Westwood.

He fast forged a name as one of the game's brightest young things and between 1998-99 claimed seven tournament wins to move into the world's top four.

It was then though, that he started to make some changes. And by his own frank admission, it was also then that a malaise set in - a malaise that he is only just emerging from.

"I think at that point in time my technique was very good," he said. "I didn't realise how good it was although I ought to have done when I looked at my consistency - certainly my consistency from tee to green.

"I got to fourth in the world in 2000, but by short game was never as good as it should have been for someone fourth in the world. It was more like 270th in the world.

I picked out of a couple of areas in which I felt I could improve because you always want to improve - when you've got seven wins, you want eight. You don't intentionally fall back but sometimes things don't work out.

"But you can't dwell on the past and worry about things that have happened, you can only look forward to the future. I was only 26 or 27 years old then and relatively experienced, but it was an exciting time and I felt like whatever I did was going to go right.

"I just felt it was the right time to change things, it just didn't work out."